]]>Depending on how well you know me, it may or may not come as a surprise to you dear reader, that this is where Kill Ugly Radio ends.

There are quite a few reasons why I decided today was a good time to put this old and rusty site to rest, but I won’t go into that. Instead, allow me to say it has been an honor and a pleasure to host KUR during the past 11 years. I’ve learned so much from your comments and emails, laughed my ass off at some of them, and believe me when I say that without KUR, I would have never met some of the brightest people within the Zappa community. I’m proud to say some of them remain close friends to this day.

I hope KUR has been a source of fun, discovery and inspiration over the years. Perhaps it gave you a chuckle, or perhaps you became acquainted with music you’d not heard before, perhaps you engaged in, or read some really erudite discussion on a variety of topics. A huge thank you goes out to fellow contributors Balint, Urbangraffito, Dr Sharleena, SOFA, Magicfingers and Alex — and to you silly people for having been with us all these years.

Just about anyone from my generation who became a teenager in the 1970s is going to be extremely familiar with today’s Sunday Big Note artist. Indeed, the debut solo effort by this group – Tales of Mystery and Imagination, released in 1976 – is considered to be a classic album. Of course, I’m speaking of The Alan Parsons Project.
While their subsequent releases never achieved anything close to blockbuster status, The Alan Parsons Project did develop a loyal cult following. Myself, I had many copies of their albums, first on vinyl, cassette, then compact disc, I listened to them so often (not to mention the odd theft from my collection).

What came extremely late from The Alan Parsons Project was the live album, The Very Best Live, a live compilation of highlights from their 1995 tour. While a great live compilation, for me it lacked the audience energy which performers feed from to rise to that next level of performance.

Today’s Sunday Big Note has that energy in abundance (an essential element, for me, when I choose an artist for these SBN listening sessions, followed by eclectic performances and lots of banter – otherwise, one might as well just listen to their albums, yes?). I bring you an FM soundboard broadcast of The Alan Parsons Project performing at the Court Centrale Estadio, Santiago, Chile, 29 October 1995 (with bonus tracks from Madrid, Spain, 2004):

]]>Das Pop are a Belgian band who first became known through their victory in the 1998 edition of Humo’s Rock Rally. I never really thought much of them though I did buy their debut album “I Love” when it first came out, which left me underwhelmed.

Fast forward to the here and now, and Das Pop have a new album out called “The Game”. I haven’t heard the full album yet, but the title track I must say is an absolute gem. The retro-style introductory vamp, the vocals, the guitars, the production: this is as close as a pop song gets to being perfect.

Don’t take my word for it though — check out the official video (which itself isn’t too shabby either!):

From the very first instant I received a CD release from the independent AltRock label from Milan, Italy, I have been increasingly impressed by the exceptional quality of their releases (see Yugen & Rock In Opposition posted on Saturday, October 30th, 2010). Indeed, the AltRock label appears to be increasingly the “go to label” for prog music lovers. The following four new releases which arrived in my mailbox only add to this label’s increasing appeal. Now, “Let’s hear it for a great Italian label…”

Sanhedrin is an Israeli band, originally known as a Camel cover band, yet before long they were composing and performing their own music, influenced by such classic prog bands as Gentle Giant, King Crimson, Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Asia Minor, and Anglagard. Their Fading Records album “Ever After” released through AltRock presents some very intriguing symphonic prog:

Five years after their much-acclaimed debut album, Inaudito, Calomito returns with Cane di schiena, a Progressive rock, Avant-prog album with elements of the Canterbury sound, jazz and folk. Besides the usual electric instruments, their arrangements include a peculiarly nice assortment of acoustic colours – trombone, violin, viola – that gives Calomito a really recognizable sound:

Humble Grumble is a Belgian band that has built their own original sound by skillfully mixing a sometimes number of juxtaposing genre – rock, jazz, folk, prog – and in doing so creating one of the most uniquely stylized bands I have heard in a very long while. Following the tradition of such Belgian alternative bands as X-Legged Sally, Fukkeduk, Think of One – Humble Grumble’s music creates complex structures, rhythmic intricacies together with an expressely melodic vein with a heavy dose of ironical attitude (largely due to Frank Zappa’s influence, I suspect). Humble Grumble’s Flanders Fields will appeal to any Zappa and Prog fan alike:

Coming from South America, thanks to their sound and musical style Factor Burzaco are also known as the “Argentinian Thinking Plague”. With their new album II – a sequel to their self titled debut album – the group moves forward with their unique musical vision. Driven by the awesome vocal ability of their female vocalist, Carolina Restuccia – whose uncommon vocal extension and expressive register make this album my absolute favourite of the four AltRock releases:

From the very first time I heard Eddie Jobson perform as a member of Frank Zappa‘s band in 1976-77, I was immediately drawn to the style and playing of this virtuoso violinist/keyboard player. Whether it was Zappa compositions, or those of Roxy Music, Jethro Tull, or even his own solo work or through the supergroup U.K. – Jobson’s style was and is uniquely his very own.
In October 2007, Jobson announced the formation of a new band, UKZ, with Trey Gunn, Marco Minnemann, Alex Machacek, and Aaron Lippert. Their EP, “Radiation,” was released on Glo Digital in March 2009; along with a 7:48 minute video (above) of the title track.

In the summer of 2009, Jobson created an adjunct performing group, the ‘Ultimate Zero Project‘ which has featured a “revolving list” of guest musicians on a number of mini-tours through August 2009 in the eastern U.S., as well as Poland and Russia in November 2009 to play a given set of progressive rock repertoire. ‘Ultimate Zero Tour Live‘, released in 2010, and recorded in Poland, Russia & Boston during the 2009 Ultimate Zero Tour offers some of the best performances from those mini-tours.

Napoleon Murphy Brock’s physical CD, This Is What Frank Zappa Heard, recorded live at the Red Noodle in Waikiki, Hawaii on September 9th, 1973 gives an example of what Frank Zappa heard when he was looking for a lead singer for the Roxy band. Available from CDBaby for $19.00 (US). Listen to brief samples here.

Although Manassas only released two albums in their brief history as a band – the double album, Manassas, released on April 12th, 1972, and Down The Road on April 23rd, 1973 – the impact of these two albums is really quite undeniable. There are many who consider Manassas’ debut album somewhat of a masterpiece, and even though I wouldn’t go quite that far with that assumption, myself, Manassas were a very unique ensemble to say the least. As Stephen Stills comments in the above interview, he and his assembled musicians were able to accomplish a lot musically under the banner of Manassas.
Formed in 1971 from the sessions for what was going to be Stephen Stills’ third solo album – taking their name from the large Manassas sign the band stood underneath at the train station in Manassas, VA (not to mention their debut album cover) – the musicians he gathered together were as equally at home on stage as they were in the studio. Their live shows often stretched to three hours, “usually in the format of an opening rock set, a solo Stills acoustic set, Hillman and Perkins playing bluegrass, another rock and country set by the band, and a closing acoustic set.” (AllMusic)

This Sunday Big Note brings you Manassas‘ first European performance after the release of their self-titled debut album at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on March 22nd, 1972 (followed with bonus tracks from their live performance on the German TV program MusicLaden):

Having grown up on the Bible Belt of Western Canada where the only sources of musical entertainment for the longest time were the local Country & Western and adult easy listening radio stations, it’s hard to imagine such a place nurturing such a Zappa and Mothers freak as myself. That’s right, two stations on the AM dial. The rock music format did not even reach Northern Alberta until the mid-60s, and then, it was top 40 radio, and the usual repetitious one that so many are accustomed to with that particular format. FM radio wouldn’t even appear until the mid-70s. So, local record stores followed these top 40 stations as a guide on what to order, and likewise promoters on which touring acts to bring through town.
How then, did the music of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention disseminate in such a conservative environment? It wasn’t through the media, I can assure you.

Growing up, everyone I knew who had Zappa and Mothers of Invention albums had been turned on to the music by somebody else – a friend, a brother, a cousin. Even the albums themselves had to be imported from more liberal and cosmopolitan Canadian cities at the time – Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal.

Word of mouth was really the only means of promoting Zappa in those days. Certainly the local top 40 station never played one cut of Mothers music in my memory. Indeed, as I’ve mentioned here at KUR often, my discovery of Zappa occurred when I was seven years old, finding a copy of Just Another Band From L.A. on a cousin’s stereo turntable. The rest, they say, is history.

That chance musical encounter affected my musical tastes far, far more than all the Country and adult easy listening music I was forced to endure at my parent’s hands. It set me on a collision course with them, musically speaking, which resulted in many of my Zappa and Mothers albums being flung against the hard plaster walls of their house.

Indeed, it may very well have been one of the reasons which lead to my moving out of their house at age 16 (but not the reason, I’m sure). Even now, 31 years later, my surviving parent and siblings still refer to Zappa and the Mothers as “that music”. And if ever I find it necessary to clear my present flat of family, all I need do is play a little Zappa, and they are “gone, gone, gone”.Note: the image above is the issue of Down Beat, October 30, 1969, featuring Larry Kart’s essay “Frank Zappa: The Mother of Us All“